Friday, March 18, 2011

Luthardt: “A change of attitude on the part of God is meant.” 2 Cor. 5:19 furnishes additional proof that by the objective reconciliation which Christ has effected a change of heart took place, not in men, but in God.

Francis Pieper, Christian Dogmatics, Volume II, p.346

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. (James 1:17)

The true God is and always has been perfect. Any change in Him would therefore be for the worse. It is His constancy, His fidelity, His everlasting sameness, wherein lies our hope: “For I [am] the LORD, I change not; therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed.” (Malachi 3:6)

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comments:

I'm not well-read where Pieper is concerned, but I didn't get this "God changed" notion from my reading of 2 Corinthians 5. If you read the passage cited and the immediately preceding verse, it reads as follows:

"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation."

I'm not seeing how that necessarily argues God changed Himself rather than us. It seems to be saying the opposite ("reconciled US to HIMSELF.....").

Then again, re-reading what Pieper wrote, perhaps the real issue is that he is considering the reconciliation spoken of in 2 Corinthians 5 as simply a "change of heart" or "change of attitude" rather than a real, existential change in us.

I love this passage for the Protestants who teach that "God turned His back on Jesus on the Cross". Ummm... no, God was IN CHRIST reconciling the world, not turning His back on the world vicariously through Christ."